Contents
1)Kings Heath Ward Forum Tuesday 11 June
2) Weoley Castle public meeting Saturday 15 June
3) Rally, demo and petition handover Tuesday 18 June
4) Consultation Process
5) 17th July is not the end of the matter!
1) KINGS HEATH WARD FORUM TUESDAY 11 JUNE 8-9 p.m.
The next meeting of the Brandwood & Kings Heath Ward Forum will be a workshop-style meeting focusing on four key issues affecting the Kings Heath community: i) Saving Kings Heath library; ii) Updating the Ward plan; iii) Brum Breathes funding applications; iv) the future of Kings Heath community centre. Each topic will have its own space at separate tables, with facilitators to support focused discussions.
Venue: Kings Heath Community Centre, 8 Heathfield Rd, King’s Heath, Birmingham B14 7DB
2) WEOLEY CASTLE PUBLIC MEETING SATURDAY 15 JUNE at 12 NOON
The Save Weoley Castle group is running this public meeting to discuss the proposed cuts to the library service and the campaigning response to this.
Venue: Castle Elim Church on Weoley Castle Square, Birmingham B29 5QD (this is two doors down from Weoley Castle Library)
3) RALLY, DEMO and PETITION HANDOVER TUESDAY 18 JUNE
This is a major rally, demonstration and lobbying session in the campaign against the proposed cuts across the range of services provided by Birmingham City Council. It is timed to coincide with the full meeting of Birmingham City Council and will take place in Victoria Square
The first part, from 12 noon to 2 pm, before the start of the BCC meeting, will include the lobbying of councillors. You can pre-arrange this by asking your ward councillors to meet you (before, during or after the council meeting) to discuss the effects which the drastic cuts would have on the library service. The Birmingham Loves Libraries campaign (which co-ordinates the campaigns being run by supporters of individual libraries) has arranged a meeting with the Leader of the Council (John Cotton) to handover the petitions, and to express the concerns with the design of the Council’s consultation and the proposals to close our public libraries or hand them over to be run by volunteers rather than paid staff.
During this first session the focus will be on: Disabilities; Libraries; SEND; Social Care. There will be a further session from 5-7 pm. where the focus will be on Arts and Culture
PLEASE COME TO THIS EVENT to SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR THE CAMPAIGNS
4) THE CONSULTATION PROCESS
A reminder that the consultation process ends on Wednesday 17 July. For assistance in completing the survey, there is the guide prepared by the Birmingham Loves Libraries group. This discusses the Council’s proposals and explains the different sections of the survey. It is at:
https://www.birminghamloveslibraries.org/_files/ugd/a27d6c_82f7f80f371842428e759802817e9d0f.pdf
You can submit a written submission instead of the survey. Send to: LibrariesPublicConsultation@birmingham.gov.uk
Hard copies of the survey form are obtainable from libraries
5) 17th JULY IS NOT THE END OF THE MATTER!
The completion of the survey and other submissions is only the first part of the cuts programme – call it the end of the beginning. The next stage is the analysis of the consultations. This must be published before BCC starts taking any binding decisions. The BCC cabinet has stated that: discussions will take place concerning the potential for collaborating with partner organisations or communities to provide library services in various alternative ways. We must ensure that the public, library users and campaign groups are fully involved in this part of the process.
All of this is likely to take some time, probably into 2025. We all need to stay alert and intervene as necessary
Martin Sullivan
Friends of The Libraries of Birmingham
https://www.facebook.com/friendsoftheLoB/?locale=en_GB
Birmingham Against The Cuts 